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| SELF-PORTRAIT |
Normally, I
am always happy to go to Market, whatever may betide, but
with a guitar and harp – not a drawing pencil and sketch pad!
Cap-a-pie I wore my black and white checker bowler (purchased at Madame Yes in Regina),
a long-sleeved crisp white shirt with a collar (purchased in Paris), a pair of short pants (purchased in Amsterdam), and my
Barcelona sandals. (Subliminally, I was an artist of international renown.)
Mise-en-scene I
rolled out a matt, put some sample portraits on display, beside which I set up two camp
stools, one for the consumer, one for the artist.
My first
hour at the market was a flounder, compensated by time spent
visiting my neighbor vendors – there was no action at my draw-site! I had angst going to the market, and sitting
and standing around without any consumers was not, at all, therapeutic.
Finally! A smiling young lady asks if I can draw a
portrait of her four month old son.
Yikes! I had not thought about
drawing toddlers!
My first
paying customer -- it was time for me put my pencil to paper and impress! Kaiven, the four month old son, wriggled
around and around, as did I to keep his visage in my line of pencil sight.
“That is so like him, I love it!” the young mother said when I
finished. Though my mat display reads, PENCIL
PORTRAITS $10.00, she gave me twenty dollar bill, insisting I keep the
$10.00 tip! Kaiven and his mom proved to
by the anodyne for my morning market angst.
Then along came barbate John.
“Will you draw me? “he asked. John, 67 years old, is a retired provincial
public servant. Because of his unusual
tam and signature beard, John presented to me as being the archetype of the easy draw.
John loved his portrait and told me he was going to advertise for me,
vocally, as he strolled down the market! (With permission I took his picture
with my iPhone.)
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| JOHN |
Mother and
daughter, Kerry and Kaitlyn, from Saskatoon, asked if I could draw them
together on one page.
"Of course," I replied (never having
expected this). This happy twosome was
in Regina at a hockey tournament, and hockey was our chat about for the 20
minutes it took me draw them. I love
talking hockey and they loved their finished product!
Another
toddler, Marcus! Marcus, like toddler Kaiven,
wriggled around and around. Even so, I
did manage to complete his portrait in about ten minutes. Both his mom and grandmother loved it, and
gave me a $10.00 tip! I now know that
toddlers mean tips -- I shall remember this for next week when I again take my
pencil to market! (With permission, I took a picture of Marcus on my iPhone.)
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| MARCUS |
Several
portraits later I had the pleasure of meeting two thirty-year olds, Courtney
and Steve. What a treat! Both were from the city of Regina, and both
were contemplating ditching their present jobs and moving to Banff (my kind of
people, my kind of adventure)! Courtney’s
beatific smile was worth a gazillion dollars, and this chat, in particular, was a
glorious way to end my day at the market.
Drat! I had forgotten to take their picture on my iPhone! As I packed my bag, I thought maybe if I
strolled through the market I would find them!
No such luck.
A lesson learned, I thought to myself. Exiting the market and walking down Victoria
Avenue, I noticed the two of them sipping drinks on the outdoor coffee patio at
Atlantis! I approached them and they
consented to have their picture taken for this blog! This is PHENOMENOLOGY!
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| COURTNEY AND STEVE |
Could doing these pencil portraits
be the apex of my busking career, or just another piece in my busking
bildungsroman? Hmm ... drawing portraits seems more
debonair than thrumming a guitar. Guitar
busking compared to pencil portraiture is like comparing a flivver to a
Ferrari.
Having spent
just one morning drawing pencil portraits I’ve gained considerable marketing
insight. For example, chubby cheeks and
double chins are in for toddlers, out for adults. Mothers find such embonpoint adorable;
whereas, plumb adults desire pencil surgery, and shall judge their portraits
accordingly. Contributing to consumer
vanity pays higher and heartfelt dividends.
Drawing
pencil portraits at the market is really a maxixe, a two-step dance of accomplished
drawing techniques whilst engaging the consumer in delightful
conversation. If a third step were to be
included in this dance of the draw, it would be time. In just one morning I’ve discovered that ten minutes seems the
perfect number of minutes allotted for the portraits. The longer it takes, more photograph-like the
expectation.
Hmmm … all of the above is what I think I know.
Hmmm … this
is what I do know …
The pencil
never lies!
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